McKenna Baby Summary: Week 49

Look at that. Week 49. Three more weeks until the big birthday. Sometimes when I see McKenna in my arms in the mirror, I am shocked at how big she is!

NURSING
Everything cleared up this week and I am much better now :)

But the biting! Oh the biting. She just starting biting me hard sometimes. Neither Brayden nor Kaitlyn were biters, but I have read every trick in the book over the years...and now tried them.

My good friend is a lactation consultant and I was talking to her about this. She agreed that I had tried everything...but one. I have one more possible trick. She said if I could anticipate the bite and pull her in before she did it, she would have to let go. So I will see if I can figure that out.

If not, weaning starts in 3 weeks.

BLANKET TIME
I wish I could tell you that things are amazing and she does blanket time without a hitch, but I can't. She sits well for a few minutes, then her little mischievous smile appears and she tries over and over and over (remember when I said she was tenacious?) to get off as she giggles away. We are doing 4 minutes. I am wondering if I should really lengthen that time out now or keep sticking with 4 minutes until she can do it without having to be put on over and over.

NAP TIMES
A reader sparked this thought for me to share. McKenna is really good at showing sleepy cues. Because of that, her nap times are not set all day. Some days, she goes down 15 minutes earlier than usual. Others, 15 minutes later. I always just play her by ear.

When Brayden was this age, he was up for two hours, down for two hours. That is what he consistently needed.

When Kaitlyn was this age, she had her set naptimes. She didn't show sleepy cues, so I just had to say, "9:30 is naptime" and stick with that.

So with McKenna's schedule, I put what is typical. She does have the time she tends to go down. But it isn't set in stone and does vary from day to day.

OUR SCHEDULE
8:20 AM--wake, nurse, solids (prunes or peaches/apricots and oatmeal). This is when we do a bath (four days a week) and independent playtime. We then do sibling playtime.
10:20 AM--nap.
12:30 PM--wake, nurse, solids (green veggie and applesauce. Sometimes mix with blueberries or cherries). She then "helps" me put Brayden in rest time (which just means telling him to go) and Kaitlyn down for her nap. We then do blanket time followed by free play with me in the same room.
2:30 PM--nap
4:30 PM--wake, nurse, solids (yellow veggie and bananas or pears). Then time with Daddy.
5:30ish PM--dinner with family. Finger foods and what we are having. Then time with family.
7:15-7:30 PM--nurse, PJs, story, prayers, bed.